So I went to the Farmer’s Market this past Saturday with my parents. There I scored a large bag of fresh arugula for $3 and a pint of fresh tomatoes for $2. I mean the prices were great for the amount of produce I got. Well needless to say I decided to use the arugula and tomatoes in the salad that I served along with pan roasted chicken and green beans. The salad was simple and delicious. It highlighted all the fresh ingredients that I got at the Farmer’s Market. The warm goat cheese was the perfect balance and added creaminess to the slightly spicy arugula. This salad was the perfect complement to the pan roasted chicken thighs. The skin came out nice and crispy, just the way I like it. Now I did a quick butter baste before putting the chicken in the oven and I feel like that a difference in the chicken being juicy and tender on the inside.

Finally on to the green beans. Now a friend of mine at work gave me a large bag full of fresh green beans from her garden. I was so excited when I saw the bag because it meant that I could make my favorite and simple green bean salad multiple times in the upcoming week. Now this recipe is very easy to put together as all you have to do is steam the green beans quickly and mix with the simple dressing. It is a great side dish and easy to make while cooking other things, in this case while the chicken is in the oven.

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cook Time: 40 MInutes if making all the elements

Servings: 2

Pan Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

2 Chicken Thighs

1 Teaspoon of Salt

1 Teaspoon of Pepper

1 Tablespoon of Vegetable Oil

2 Tablespoons of Butter

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

Place the vegetable oil and heat over medium high heat in a large pan. The oil should be what they refer to as ‘shimmering’ before you add the chicken thighs. This usually takes about 5 minutes or so. While the oil is heating up take the chicken thighs and season both sides with the salt and pepper. Once heated up at the chicken thighs to the pan skin side down. There should be an audible sizzle when you add the chicken. Cook the chicken skin side down for 8 minutes. Make sure to shake the pan every so often to prevent the chicken from sticking to the pan.

Then take the two tablespoons of butter and put into the pan. Now here comes the part where you need to put for a few minutes over the pan. The butter should melt and start foaming. Tip the pan slightly towards you so that the foaming butter all comes to one side of the pan. Take a large spoon and ladle the foaming butter over each piece of the chicken repeatedly until the butter has stopped foaming, about 3-4 minutes.

Finally take the chicken and place it in an over proof dish. Place in the oven for 25 minutes with the skin side facing up. Flip the chicken once halfway through cooking. Remove from the oven and let sit in the pan for 5 minutes before serving.

While the chicken is in the oven you can prepare the rest of the meal.

Arugula Salad With Roasted Tomatoes and Warm Goat Cheese

Ingredients:

6 Cherry tomatoes

1/2 Teaspoon of Salt

1/2 Teaspoon of black pepper

1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar

2 Cups of Arugula, coarsely chopped

8 Ounces of Goat Cheese, cut in half

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

Take the tomatoes and place them in an oven proof dish. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil. Put in the oven for 20 minutes on the top rack (Since the pan roasted chicken goes in the oven at the same temperature for almost the same amount of time I put my tomatoes in while the chicken was cooking. This saves so much time in the cooking process).

Once the tomatoes come out of the oven toss them with the balsamic vinegar. Place the arugula in a bowl and take the tomatoes and the juices and toss together thoroughly.

Next take the coat cheese and place on a baking sheet. Place under the broiler on high for 4 minutes or until it starts to melt and is warm. Finally take the arugula and tomato mixture and split between two plates and place the warm goat cheese in the middle and enjoy.

Green Beans with Red Wine Vinegar Dressing

Ingredients:

1/2 pound of fresh green beans, trimmed

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 Yellow Onion, chopped

1/4 Cup of Red Wine Vinegar

1 Tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar

1/2 Tablespoon of Salt

1/2 Tablespoon of Black Pepper

1/4 Teaspoon of Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

Directions:

Take the green beans and place in a small saucepan and cover with water. Place on a burner over high heat until it begins to boil, about 4-5 minutes. Then lower heat to simmer and cook the green beans for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain the green beans.

Place the green beans in a bowl. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. While the green beans are cooling mix together the Red Wine Vinegar, Balsamic Vinegar, Salt, Black Pepper, Red Pepper Flakes and garlic together in a small bowl. Once the green beans have cooled add the Red Wine Vinegar mixture with green beans and mix together thoroughly.

Enjoy immediately and try and tell me you did not go back for seconds from this delicious dish. Yes, it is that good.

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I love lentil salad and usually always make it one way. I decided to try out a different recipe that I came up with using ingredients I had on hand. It tastes delicious and is easy to make. Plus it makes a large portion which is great for leftovers. I usually serve it with two small whole wheat pita pockets.

Ingredients:

2 cups of lentils

1 can of no salt added Cannellini beans

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 roasted red peppers, diced

1/2 a white onion, diced

1/4 cup of fresh basil, chopped

1/8 cup of olive oil

3 tablespoons of lemon juice

1/2 tablespoon of black pepper

1/4 tablespoon of salt

Directions:

Bring the two cups of lentils and 7 cups of water to a boil in a medium size pot. Once boiling, reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Drain and then set aside.

While the lentils are cooking, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Heat the olive oil for 4 minutes. Then add all the ingredients from Cannellini Beans through salt to saucepan. Cook for 10 minutes or until the onions are slightly soft.

Finally add the cooked lentils and all the ingredients to a large bowl and toss together. This dish can be eaten right away warm or it can be eaten cold.

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So I’ve been seeing all this posts and images around the web for salad in a jar. I read two great blog entries that had vegan salads in jars and it got me thinking. Would I be jumping on the bandwagon if I started to make these salads and post about them? Or are they an ingenious idea and would be really easy to bring to work for lunch?
What are everyone’s thoughts on this?

Salad is one of my favorite things to eat. Incorporating bread, which is another of my favorite things, into a salad makes me devour every single bite. This salad is easy to make and because of the limited ingredients I would suggest buying tomatoes when they are fresh and ripe. I found heirloom cherry tomatoes on a recent shopping trip to Trader Joe’s and they went great in the salad, but any type of tomato can be used in the salad. This salad is large and very filling.

It can serve 2-3 people as a main dish and 4-6 as a side dish.

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound (16 ounces) of tomatoes, cut into bite sized pieces

1 cucumber, cut into bite sized pieces

1/2 a large red onion, chopped

1 pound (16 ounces) of mozzarella cheese, cut into bite sized pieces

1 cup of fresh basil, chopped

3 garlic gloves, minced

1 small loaf of Italian or French bread, cut into bite sized pieces

1 cup of olive oil

3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon of wine vinegar

Pinch of red pepper flakes

1/4 cup of fresh thyme, chopped

1 tablespoon of salt

1 tablespoon of pepper

Directions:

Heat a 1/4 cup of the olive oil over medium heat in a medium sized saucepan. Once the oil is nice and hot add the garlic and the cut pieces of bread to the pan. Season with 1/2 tablespoon of salt and 1/2 a tablespoon of pepper. Cook the bread and garlic for about 6 minutes, or until the bread is has a nice toast on the it. Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine the tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, mozzarella cheese, thyme and basil in a large bowl. Add the rest of the olive oil (3/4 cup), balsamic vinegar and wine vinegar. Mix well to combine all ingredients. Add the red pepper flakes, 1/2 tablespoon of salt and 1/2 tablespoon of pepper. Again mix to combine all ingredients.

Finally add the toasted bread and garlic mixture to the bowl. Mix it all together. Now the salad can be served immediately or you can store it in the refrigerator for up to 4 hours.

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This is one of my favorite and easy recipes to make. I like it in the summer as its light, filling and refreshing. You can use any Greek dressing you prefer, but I personally love Christie’s Lite Greek dressing. Also you can omit or add any more of the vegetables to suit your preference.

Ingredients:

2 cups of dried couscous

4 tablespoons of butter

1 tablespoon of salt

1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 an onion, chopped

1 cucumber, cut into bite sized pieces

1/2 can of pitted black olives, chopped

2 and 1/2 cups of crumbled feta cheese

2 cups of Greek dressing

1/2 lemon

Directions:

In a medium saucepan combine 2 cups of water, the butter and the salt. Bring to a boil. Once it has begun to boil add the two cups of couscous. Remove from heat and cover. Let stand 5 minutes, stirring about halfway through.

Take the cook couscous and combine it with the tomatoes, onions, cucumber, olives and feta cheese. Take the 2 cups of Greek dressing and mix the salad thoroughly to evenly distribute the dressing. Depending on your individual taste preference you made need to add some more dressing. Finally squeeze the 1/2 of the lemon over the salad.

This salad can be served warm or cold. So if you would like it warm than serve immediately or if you would like it to be cold than refrigerate for about a hour.

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Here is the recipe with for an Italian dish of rice salad with sausage, fennel and grapes. I made this recipe and it was absolutely delicious. It has a nice contrast between the rice, the grapes and the hearty taste of the sausage. I brought it for lunch to work the next few days after I made it. It is great to make one day and eat another day because you eat it cold, but you could heat it up if you like as well. I used hot Italian sausage and red grapes in my version. You can use any type of Italian sausage that you prefer and you can also use green grapes as well.

Ingredients:

1 pound of Italian sausage

Juice of half a lemon

Pinch of red pepper flakes

1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil

3 Tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

1/2 fennel bulb, cut into tiny pieces

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 an onion, chopped

3-4 cups of grapes

2 cups of white rice (such as basmati or arborio)

Handful of lettuce leaves, cut/torn into small pieces

Directions:

Cook the rice per the directions on the box. While the rice is cooking cut the sausage into pieces. Heat a saucepan with half of the olive oil over medium heat. Once the oil has heated up, about 4 minutes, add the sausage, fennel, onions, garlic, balsamic vinegar and red pepper flakes. Cook in the pan over medium heat until the sausage has cooked through and the onions, fennel and garlic are slightly brown. This should take about 10-15 minutes.

Once the rice has finished cooking drain and place in a bowl. Next add the cooked sausage and vegetables to the rice. Mix all the ingredients together. Once you have done that add the lemon juice, grapes and lettuce leaves. Mix the ingredients again and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately or let the salad cool down and then serve.